Galactic Legacy: Blade of the Jedi
by starbornshine
Summary: All La'monia Hallcaster wanted to do was become a normal Jedi Knight, but from the moment she set foot on Tython she was dragged into an ever expanding series of events that she had to fix. It is either that or watch the galaxy as she knows it crumble before her eyes. The second member of the Hallcaster Legacy and the twin sister of my SI. [JK story with a few changes]
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the story of the another member of the Hallcaster Legacy. This is my Jedi Knight who is fairly neutral. This story transpires parallel to my SI story since the two are twins. I have small additions to the general storyline due to the fact that's how I roleplayed my character. Apologies for any missed typos and autocorrect- my IPad hates me at times. Enjoy!**

==GL: BOJ==

La'monia Hallcaster felt positively giddy with excitement as she felt the shuttle duck into the atmosphere of the ancient Jedi homeworld - Tython. She was here! She was finally going to step foot onto the ancient homeworld of the Jedi Order, not to mention the fact that she'd at last get to see her mentor again. Well, technically most people wouldn't acknowledge that person as her mentor, but she was someone La'monia or Nia as most people ended up calling her looked up to and to who she would be eternally grateful. This was a new step for her, a new step to becoming a fully fledged Jedi knight. Well, at least that's what she told herself. Nia just hoped that her bad luck curse wouldn't start acting up. It was the odd thing about her: bad luck seemed to follow her wherever she went, though recently the incidents had been weaker and farther apart so Nia hoped the curse would soon die down. However, she didn't know if this was just her fate or if there really was some odd reason for all these unlucky events to occur. Sighing, Nia ran a hand through her short ginger hair that hung loose to her neck, tucking the unruly strands back behind her ears, accidentally brushing her warm skin against the cool metal of the implants in her ears.

As the shuttle ducked lower, Nia's hearing suddenly disappeared completely and a strange tingling pain exploded in her ears. Cursing softly under her breath, Nia quickly reactivated the implants and slowly, with another shot of pain her hearing returned. The pilot's voice sounded over the intercom:

-M'am, are you alright?

Nia smiled to reassure him and waved her hand, brushing it off as nothing:

-I'm fine, don't worry. This always happens. Are we close yet?

-Just getting the landing clearance. I'll open the viewport in a few minutes. Tython is quite beautiful from the air.

-I'd like to see it - I've only ever heard stories.

-Then I think you'll like what you see. Excuse me, m'am, I've got to transmit the registration codes.

The intercom crackled before the room went silent once more. Releasing another heavy breath, Nia buried her face in her hands and shook her head slightly as if to ward off the torturous images filling her mind. That didn't help. Nia still remembered it all. The implants in her ears were what allowed her to keep her hearing after she had lost as a child as a result of endless torture she and her twin had endured before being sold to a Hutt on Nar Shaddaa. Nia's slender fingers reached up to brush against the brand on her forehead that her bangs hid - a slave brand. They'd served the Hutt for a couple of years and then, when she was only six, her sister went missing - she'd never seen her again. Nia only hazily remembered that day: she remembered being sick and pushing herself as much as she could, she dimly remembered the overseer shouting and Noli retorting, she remembered the sound of the Shock whip being cracked and the fear that that sound roused and the last thing she remembered was her twin, Noli, shouting and the sound of lightning crackling before everything faded to black. She'd never heard her twin sister's voice again. Nia and Noli or Nolianna were identical twins and separated or not they shared a bond that had been present at birth so even though a lot of people told her otherwise Nia knew Noli was alive and kicking. They were both too much of a fighter to give in. They probably had inherited both their father's and their mother's spirits - they, too, were fighters. Nia only faintly remembered her mother: she remembered her mother's long and curly ginger hair, her grey coloured eyes and her soft and warm voice, she remembered the feeling of being loved. Subconsciously, Nia's hands reached up to grasp her trembling arms as her heart clenched painfully. She knew her mother had been murdered when she had been but a toddler and she and Noli had been turned into slaves.

After the Noli disappeared Nia had done everything she could to find her, but being a slave her options were limited. A year after that the Hutt sold her off to some noble on Alderaan who secretly owned slaves. Life hasn't been much better there, the amount of abuse Nia suffered had only been increased. And then, after a few years, when Nia was nine, a miracle happened. It was an accident really, but, one day, a mysterious guest had come to visit the Duke's manor. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for the Duke to have guest, but from the moment she showed the guest to the grand hall where the Duke was holding a party Nia had felt as if something was odd about this guest. She, Nia had been fairly certain that it had been a she, was wearing strange clothes and a grey cloak with the hood drawn up to hide her face. As strange as she was Nia had shown her to the room where all the guests were before she was ordered to start serving the guests drinks. As she walked around the room Nia's vision suddenly swam and instead of the hall she saw the table at which the Duke and the mysterious woman were sitting be covered in glass shards from a falling chandelier. Worried, Nia rushed over to the head guard to tell him about it, but the head guests had only ridiculed her and after punching her he warned that that he could easily tear out the implants keeping her hearing intact. Nia had been forced to get back to work, but, when she saw the chandelier start falling as per her vision, Nia dropped the tray she'd been carrying full of expensive crystal glasses and stretched out with it. She didn't know what that "it" was, but somehow she managed to catch the chandelier and the glass before it hit the Duke and his guest with it and safely float it down to the ground. Seeing the shattered crystal glasses and her display, the Duke had stormed over and slapped Nia hard enough to rattle her left implant enough so that it broke. He had wanted to hit her again when suddenly that woman, Nia's mentor, grabbed his hand and pulled Nia to her side. That was the moment when Nia's fate had changed. That woman had been a certain highly respected Jedi Master who had come to investigate the dirty dealings of the Duke and to recover the Force artefacts he had stolen and with Nia's help she'd accomplished her mission, but to the child's immense surprise the woman didn't just leave, she turned to the Duke and demanded that he release custody of Nia to her. Spluttering and enraged, the Duke ordered the guards to attack the woman, but with a single wave of her hand she subdued all of them inspiring awe in the young child clinging to her. Defeated, the Duke easily conceded and soon the Republic's people arrived and arrested the Duke while Nia left with the woman. She'd felt uncertain what the mysterious woman had wanted with her back then, but instead of treating her like an object the woman treated her like a person in an odd, sort of motherly way. She even got Nia fitted with better implants before offering her the path of a Jedi. She'd said it would be difficult since Nia was older than most and perhaps people would be reluctant to accept her, but she believed Nia could do it. Nia had instantly agreed. However, when she learned the place of that woman in the Jedi Order Nia had been shocked. In any case, it had been ten long years since then and with patience and perseverance Nia had completed her training on the Jedi enclave on Bakura before being sent to Tython to finalise her training.

Nia glanced at the two practice sabers lying on the opposite seat in the shuttle with a small smile. This was it: her final step. She would do it, she would become a Jedi that would make her mentor proud. The pilot's voice sounded over the intercom, startling Nia out of her thoughts:

-I have the clearance to land and I'll open the viewport right now. I believe you wanted to see Tython, m'am.

The shutters slid aside and the viewport opened, letting sunlight stream into the shuttle. Unable to sit still, Nia jumped to her feet and turned around to look out of the viewport. The view she was met with was gorgeous. Tython was a planet that brimming with life. From the air Nia could see it's lush forests, mountains and fields. She could see the rivers running and glinting with the sunlight. The planet itself felt powerful and alive within the Force. It sung with life and peace. It was a planet completely submerged within the ocean of the light side of the Force. Nia couldn't contain a small bubble of joyous laughter from erupting from within her as she exchanged glances with a bird that flew beside the shuttle. Pressing her hand against the glass, Nia reached out with the Force and touched the bird's mind gently, greeting it. The bird gave a small cry as it's own greeting before soaring up, higher into the wide blue sky. Smiling, Nia sat back down - it seemed she could connect with the animals on Tython too. Her sorrowful seemed to have vanished completely at the sight of this new world. The smile seemed to light up Nia's entire face, it was light a ray of sunlight had broken through the stormy clouds. The pilot's voice sounded again:

-Please buckle up your harness, m'am. We're landing.

-Right.

Nia quickly did up her crash webbing and just in time as the ship ducked down and suddenly levelled again before turning around and settling on the landing pad before some structure that Nia assumed was part of the Jedi's enclave here. With a small dip the shuttle finished the landing procedure. Unbuckling her webbing, Nia stood up and strapped both of her practice sabers to the back of her tunic. She walked past the cockpit and peeked in for a moment to thank the pilot who smiled at the young woman and wished her her luck before lowering the landing ramp. Nia hesitated at the top for a moment before taking a deep breath, breathing out slowly and descending down the ramp. As soon as she had stepped foot on the landing platform the ramp was drawn back up and the shuttle took off. Nia looked around herself in wonder, revelling in the warm gentle touch of the sunlight and the soothing feeling of the wind playing with her ginger hair. She could feel the warm calmness of the light side wash over her, and the Force with both it's light and dark warp herself within it protectively. She frowned a bit at that: was something wrong? However, that thought was soon washed out of her mind as she caught sight of the giant lake below the landing platform. Unable to restrain herself, Nia rushed to the railing and with a bright grin on her face looked down at the sparkling lake that reflected the blue sky and the few white clouds passing overhead. Nia's gaze ran along the lake to it's centre where there was a rather large statue of what appeared to be a Jedi holding a deactivated lightsaber with both his hands. Nia couldn't help wondering what the story behind that was. The young woman was jerked out of her thoughts by a male voice:

-Excuse me, but, would you happen to be Padawan Hallcaster?

Nia turned around to see a man standing at the top of the stairs leading towards the structure to which the landing platform was attached. A bit reluctantly she pulled away from the railing and decided to focus on her training as she ascended the stairs. She nodded at the man as soon as she reached him:

-Yes, that's me. Sorry, I got a bit caught up in the sights - I've never been to Tython before.

The man smiled and shook his head:

-Welcome to Tython, Padawan . Everyone at the temple is looking forward to meeting you.

The man who greeted her was middle aged with neatly combed brown hair and brown, almost black in colour eyes, he was also dressed in brown Jedi robes and a single lightsaber hung at his side. He motioned Nia to follow him and as they walked towards what she assumed was his office he commented:

-Your former Masters praise your combat skills. They say you're becoming an expert duelist.

Walking into the man's office, Nia bit her lip. She wasn't sure how to respond to that so she chose the simplest answer possible and one that would help her accomplish a second goal at the same time. Nia shrugged her shoulders noncommittally:

-I'm sorry. I don't think we've been introduced.

The man sighed at his own forgetfulness and extended a hand towards the padawan:

-Sorry - Derrin Weller, watchman of the training grounds. I greet new arrivals, show them around.

Nia smiled and shook the offered hand:

-La'monia Hallcaster, newest padawan here probably.

-Pleasure to meet you. Let's bring you up to speed on what'll happen next.

-Please do.

-The Jedi Council will assign you a new Master to oversee your final trials. You'll be tested in ways you can't imagine. But when you leave Tython, you'll know what it means to be a Jedi Knight. More importantly, you'll know yourself.

Nia shook her head gently, protesting softly:

-Being a Jedi Knight is my calling. What else can the Masters tell me about myself?

Derrin sighed:

-Many padawans feel the same way until they face the trials. That's why releasing preconceived notions is part of the Jedi Code,-Derrin explained, failing to notice Nia give a little sigh at the mention of the code,-"There in no ignorance, there is knowledge". Enter your training with an open mind. You might surprise yourself.

Derrin met Nia's disbelieving look with his own stern one. The padawan relented raising her hands in defeat. Nodding in approval, Derrin continued:

-There's a speeder here that will take you-hang on. Getting an emergency signal...

The holocom had started beeping a few seconds prior and just as it did as bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Why did she have a feeling that her bad luck curse was acting up again? Derrin hastily pressed "accept transmission" and the sound of blaster fire filled the room. Yep, definitely the bad luck curse. A Bith padawan popped up on screen:

-under attack, repeat, under attack! Flesh Raiders are invading the Padawan training grounds! They have blasters! Send Help!

The padawan' voice was panicked and tense. The next moment the transmission turned to static and fizzled out. Jaw set, Derrin shut off his holocom and stowed it away, murmuring:

-Flesh Raiders, armed with blasters? He must be mistaken.

Nia, who could feel the pain and fear coming from the training grounds, shook her head, placing her hands on her hips:

-Obviously not! You could hear the blaster fire! Go help!

Derrin shook his head and in that infuriatingly calm tone of voice reprimanded her:

-Calm down, Padawan. Never rush into a fight before knowing your enemy.

Well, she hat to agree with him there: a cool head was no match for irrational blind impatience. Still, she couldn't just sit around while people were getting hurt and she could help. Turning around, Derrin started typing out something on the terminal as he explained:

-Flesh Raiders are a species of hostile natives. They're smart enough to use tools and violent beyond reason. I'm sending every able-bodied Jedi down to the padawan training grounds right away - especially you.

Nia's light blue eyes widened at that, she hadn't expected to be allowed to go into the fray herself:

-What makes me any better than the others?

-You've been trained for dangers like this. I know I can count on you.

Nia frowned at his words. No matter what her Masters said, she never felt like she was good enough for real combat. To have Derrin say this too was like another brick on top the pile. Could they really count on her? Nia shook herself mentally: what was with that wimpy attitude? She wanted to be a capable Jedi, didn't she?! This wasn't the time for this uncertainty and pity-party! She noddded, her confidence returning and her mind focusing on the task. Derrin continued issuing instructions:

-Take the speeder outside to the Padawan training grounds. Push back the Fleash Raiders,- Derrin paused and looked over his shoulder at her,-and find out if they're really using advanced weapons. Go. I'll catch up after I alert the Jedi Council. May the Force be with you.

Nia nodded and instantly set out towards where she'd noticed the speeder as they'd walked. As she moved she unstrapped the two practice sabers from her back. She reached the speeder and after the droid confirmed where she wanted to go she climbed on, grumbling:

-Why does this always happen where ever I land? Guess I better go tell these Flesh Raiders to back off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! So, we're here with chapter 2. This story is turning out to be harder to write than my SI story, but it's still fun. I apologise for the wait. So, something I should probably clear up here and now The JK story starts after the JC story and, well, I had to guess exactly how so I kind of made it so my JC is just past Act 3 when she meets Nia. That's all I had to say. Enjoy!**

===GL: BOJ==

 ** _Chapter 2 - Tython's Beasts_**

Nia quickly established the fact that she did not like the Flash Raiders and it seemed that the sentiment was mutual if their corpses and the numerous blaster burns and welts on the skin of her arms and legs were anything to go by. Flesh Raiders were vicious beasts, but intelligent and, boy, could they fight. Slashing another Flash Raider across the chest, Nia leaned down, bracing her palms on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She'd been fighting for at least at an hour, but the ranks of Tython's natives didn't seem anywhere close to thinning out. Just as Nia was beginning to get her heart rate to a semblance of a normal pace a warning rang out across the Force, forcing Nia to duck under a torrent of blasterfire as another pair of Flesh Raiders charged towards her. Cursing softly under her breath, Nia tossed one of her training sabers at one while she Force leapt at the the other and sliced him in half from the legs up, knocking the blaster out of his hands simultaneously. Summoning her second blade back into her hand from the corpse's chest, Nia decided to find a place to take a cover and deal with the blaster wound on her shoulder, since it was seriously hindering her range of movement which was just unacceptable under these circumstances. Force-pushing another pair of attackers against the rock wall, Nia scanned the clearing until she spotted a large rock beside a grazing Uxi beast. After taking down another trio of persistent assailants, Nia ducked behind the rock and reached out to the mind of the herbivore that was looking at her in confusion, pleading for him to make sure the Flesh Raider's didn't notice her. The Uxi beats blinked at her before giving a soft huff and moving its giant body to block the view of the rock completely, hiding Nia from sight. The young woman breathed a sigh of relief, sometimes having flaming red hair didn't work in one's favour.

Nia didn't know where the watchman of the training grounds got his information from, but it was dangerously flawed. The Flesh Raiders were anything but primitive, in fact Nia doubted that any of Tython's animals truly were. During one of her scuffles with them, Nia had probed the mind of one and to her grim surprise had found a nearly fully sentient mind that was being twisted by something else. It was something definetly of the dark side, but Nia couldn't tell what exactly. Maybe the Foesh Raiders had been more primitive once, but now something else was dominating their minds. Nia had a theory, it was just a theory, but if they could find the root of this dominant "virus" they could cure it and then maybe the Flesh Raiders would return to their old selves - violent, yes, but not to this disturbing point. Still, now really wasn't the time for blind speculations.

Nia turned her attention to her shoulder wound and muttered a curse under her breath. It seemed it was worse than just a burn. The skin around it was scorched black and lines ran from it. A bruise bloomed beneath it - the bolt had punctured her skin, but the shot had missed many vital points, the worst was probably the fact that it might have affected the nervous system. Sighing, Nia for the hundredth time wished she knew how to heal herself with the Force, but since she didn't she was forced to resort to simpler methods. Pulling out a syringe filled with kolto from her belt, Nia jabbed it into her arm and injected the liquid just below her skin before pulling the syringe out and reattaching the empty object to her belt. She watched calmly as the kolto fizzed and the red skin slowly returned back to it's normal colour. Leaning back against the rock, Nia closed her eyes. It would take the kolto at least two more minutes to effectively mend any damage she had sustained so she could keep moving.

Taking deep breaths, Nia reached into the Force and scanned her surroundings. There were more than a dozen Jedi fighting to reclaim the Padawan training grounds, but obviously there wasn't much progress being made. It was as if there was a leak and the Flesh Raiders kept pouring in from there. Frowning, Nia assessed what she had been able to put together about the Flesh Raiders: they were bulky bipedal humanoids with maroon skin, razor sharp teeth and eyes stalks. Their physical power was very impressive, considering how easily one of her adversaries had picked her up and thrown her as if she weighed no more than a leaf. While they could be affected by the Force it took considerable strength to overpower their mind and that was sure to make any Jedi burn out way too quickly. So what was their weak point? What was it that she was missing? The Force quietly warned her of approaching danger, forcing Nia to open her eyes. She cursed softly when she saw a patrol of Flesh Raiders coming around the cliff face where she was hiding. Biting her lip, Nia pushed herself further into the rock, hoping they wouldn't notice her. Right now, she was in no position to fight. Acting on instinct, Nia pulled at the Force and wrapped it around herself like a cloak, trying to avoid detection. It worked and the Flesh Raiders eyes slid past her without noticing her. Suddenly, Nia's holocom began beeping at the worst possible time. Hoping to silence the thing, Nia answered the call and nearly groaned when the face of the kneeling watchman popped up:

-You're mostly unharmed-good. Flesh Raider shot me in the leg while I was rescuing some Padawans. Don't know where those things got blasters, but they know how to use them. I've been evacuated to a medcenter, but the fighting isn't over.

Nia nodded mutely. It didn't seem like they had heard Derrin so far, but if she spoke they might notice her. Nia glanced at her shoulder and was glad to see that the skin over the burn had nearly finished knitting itself back together. Derrin spoke up louder:

-Padawan?

-Sorry, can you keep it down? I'm kinda up to my neck in monsters here.

Derrin lowered his voice and nodded, explaining:

-Another Padawan found a cave tunnel the Flesh Raiders use to enter the valley.

Nia silently congratulated her brain with coming to the correct conclusion. Meanwhile, the watchman continued:

-I need you at that tunnel, making sure than the Flesh Raiders didn't get any more reinforcements through it.

Remembering the corpses she had seen of so many people, young and old, human and otherwise, Nia nodded firmly. The bloodshed had to stop and whoever was responsible had to answer for their crimes. They would not escape justice, no matter what. Nia nodded and whispered:

-I'll find this cave tunnel and seal it.

The "how" was another matter entirely, but her previous Masters had always praised her creativity so maybe she could figure something out. She always had before. Often the Force and your skill with a lightsaber didn't matter - you needed a good head on your shoulders too. That was what Master Darian and her mentor had taught her. Power wasn't everything. As she watched what happened in the world, Nia became more and more convinced that that was right. Power really wasn't everything. It didn't matter who you were in the end, all that mattered was that you knew who you were as a living being, that your remembered who you had been, that you never lost sight of yourself. Jedi or Sith, Imperial or Republic, Force-sensitive or Force-blind, Human or otherwise - none of it mattered. It didn't matter how strong you were, often it all came to down to how you reacted, how you thought, who you could turn to - power couldn't get you that. You needed a good head on your shoulders, without it your life expectancy was very low - no matter who you were. Meanwhile, Derrin sighed in relief:

-We need to end this conflict before anyone else gets hurt. Find the tunnel along the mountain range. I'll send you the approximate location. May the Force be with you.

-And with you.

The transmission shut off and Nia stowed away the holocom before standing up and pulling out her practice sabers. Break time was over. She had a job to do and this patrol of uglies would not stop her, that was for certain. Nia rushed at them and landed the first strike.

==GL: BOJ==

Finding the cave tunnel proved to be easier said than done and as if locating it with a very rough navpoint wasn't enough Tython's creatures weren't making it easy for her. While some creatures like the Uxi beasts and the wingmaws could be reasoned with the Flesh Raiders and Manka cats were way too stubborn and twisted. Nia had had more than a few close calls with the latter as they seemed to be intelligent enough to recognise her ears as a weak spot. Seriously, whoever had compiled the report on Tython's natives was seriously mistaken, it was either that or something had changed them recently and to a drastic extent. In any case, Nia had to be on full alert all the time so when she finally found the cave she'd been looking for the past two hours (because Tython's geography and landscape was a mess), the young Jedi couldn't help relaxing. Which proved to be the wrong this to do as a Flesh Raider suddenly jumped out of the bushes and rushed at her. Nia quickly whirled around and slashed the beast in two, kicking away the corpse. Sighing, she entered the tunnel with both her practice sabers drawn and her mind on full alert. She was sure to run into opposition. Sure enough, she met a pair of Flesh Raiders right away. Throwing her blade at one of them, Nia made a heap of rocks crumble down onto the other's head. She pulled her blade out of the other corpse as she passed by. The tunnel was wide and tall enough, winding but not overly complicated. There were even strange luminous mushroom-like plants growing inside. As she walked through the tunnel she encountered and quickly dispatched small groups of Flesh Raiders, all her combat training coming back to her easily. By the time she got to a rather large opening Nia had received a decent number of welts on her body, but she was still determined. As she quickly and quietly dealt with a trio of Flesh Raiders at the entrance, Nia suddenly sensed two presences, far more distinct than that of her current adversary. After getting rid off two more Flesh Raiders Nia peered around the spiking rocks to see what was going on the other side of the cave. She quickly counted that there were still at least 7 Flesh Raiders to take care of, but if she was lucky she could probably sneak by them. Her gaze trailed up to the slightly elevated area of the cave. There she saw the source of the problem: a huge gaping hole through which Flesh Raiders were coming out. Bingo! There were also two Padawan , but oddly one of them wasn't being attacked by Flesh Raiders. Nia frowned - could he be the one controlling them? It was likely and it would explain why they weren't attacking him. In any case, she had to quickly help the Bith Padawan or he would get beaten to death. Nia rushed out of her hiding spot and ran towards the human and the bith Padawan, but she quickly found her path blocked by a trio of Flesh Raiders laughing at her in their weird way. Nia huffed:

-Alright, boys, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You get out of my way and you get to live, if you don't I'll make quick work of you. What will it be?

The Flesh Raider's only laughed harder before one of them tried to kick Nia, but Nia used that as an opening instead and grabbing his leg she used both her strength and the Force to flip him over before stabbing him in the back. She turned to the other two and while she used one of her training sabers to block the blade of another flesh Raider, she deflected the bolts coming from the other with her second blade. Taking a deep breath, Nia ducked under the other ones blade and coming almost chest to chest with him she plunged her second blade through his neck before moving away. Now, she could finally focus on the ranged Flesh Raider. She moved towards him, blocking his shots with quick practiced Soresu forms and reflecting them right back at him. When he finally fell, Nia looked up to see the human Padawan approach the Bith one, making the latter flinch. Slightly surprised that he hadn't noticed her yet with all the Flesh Raiders blasting, Nia swiftly moved towards them, keeping behind the rocks so that she wasn't spotted. Soon, she was able to hear what was being said. The human Padawan spoke with evident pride in his voice as well as malicious delight, his arms were crossed over his chest in a confident manner:

-Stop struggling, Padawan. Your life was over the moment you set for here.

So the Bith Padawan was the one that found the cave-tunnel? Impressive, but it did look like he'd paid a price for it. She had to admit it took a brave sort of recklessness to enter the tunnel alone to try and stop the Flesh Raiders, but that was what Jedi did. Nia smiled slightly. However, that smile soon faded when she heard the Bith Padawan speak, his voice laced with pain:

-You are Jedi. Why would you kill me?

The human one snorted, but nevertheless responded:

-Because the Order must evolve - and you are weak.

Nia and the trail of dead Flesh Raiders that she hadn't killed begged to differ. As the human moved to strike the Bith, Nia took that as her cue and stepped out from behind the rocks, drawing all of the aggressors attention to herself as she spat:

-Whatever your problem is, ugly, I'm here to end it.

She saw the flicker of surprise in the human's dark eyes as well as the Bith's. However, the relieved expression on the Bith's face quickly changed to fear:

-Be careful. There's something wrong with this Jedi and he's not alone.

Nia nodded and shifted into a defensive position, stepping in front of the Bith. The human stroked his chin as he appraised her:

-Hmm. You are...dangerous. You killed my soldiers.

The confusion must have flickered across Nia's face as the Bith student quietly supplied:

-He commands the Flesh Raiders attacking us.

Well, that answered that question. The human sighed and clicked his fingers. Unexpectedly, two Flesh Raiders emerged from the opening and stood obediently behind the human Padawan. The human shook his head with a condescending expression, irking Nia immensely:

-Not attacking - cleansing. And we have only begun.

Nia narrowed her eyes, glaring at him as she drew her own two blades, retorting:

-Fine, then. I'll do some cleansing of my own!

The human only seemed to welcome that, smirking and shooting her a pitying look. Yeah, this guy was really grating on her nerves. Using the Force Nia threw the guy back into the cavern wall while she focused on the two Flesh Raiders. They cast a look back at their currently out of commission master, but they quickly decided that the small ginger-haired human in front of them was more of a threat. They rushed at her, just as she had expected. Blocking both their blades with one of her own, Nia used the second one to cut one of her opponents in half before using both blades to block the one blade of the other one. Flesh Raiders were strong and they were intelligent, but they could be very stupid at times. It seemed that was the case with the second one as he decided that attacking Nia head on was a good plan, he was proven wrong when the girl easily dealt two strikes to both his arms which only angered him further. The Flesh Raider threw away his blade and instead used his arms to grab Nia and then throw her against a nearby rock formation before proceeding to try and crush her arms there. Nia wasn't about to let that happen. The young Jedi flipped her blades in her arms and ,taking advantage of the beasts close proximity to her, she stabbed the blades into his legs. The Flesh Raider howled in pain, letting her go. Nia used the brief moment to it's full potential and pierced the Flesh Raider's chest with her second blade. He fell to the ground.

Nia turned her attention to the young man who had gotten up and walked towards her with a blue lightsaber. Nia frowned: most padawans didn't construct a lightsaber until the end of her trials so he couldn't be one of them. That just raised the question of who he was then? Slowly, Nia and the young man began circling each other, neither willing to look away even for a second as they knew that even the smallest distraction could prove fatal. In a firm voice, Nia asked:

-Who are you?

-I should be asking you that.

Nia narrowed her eyes at him, but complied:

-My name is La'monia Hallcaster and I'm the woman about to kick your sorry ass, but that's not important right now. In case you didn't hear me the first time let me repeat myself again: Who. Are. You.

Nia's blue eyes bored into the young man with enough force to make him take a step back. He felt a shiver run up his spine. Gritting his teeth, he ground out his name:

-Callef.

-Well, Callef the moronic, I'm giving you one chance to surrender. The Jedi will help you.

-I do not need help from those weak beings! The Order must be purged of them!

Callef snarled furiously. Nia blinked rapidly in surprise, but adjusted quickly enough. She nodded her head:

-Okay, I think I see where you're going with this. Sith, right?

Callef furrowed his eyebrows:

-I'm sorry, what?

-Well, this whole injuring your fellow Jedi, controlling the beasties, wrecking the training grounds...It's all 'cause you're trying to become an angsty Sith, right?

Callef spluttered: what was wrong with this girl?! Did she not get what he was saying at all?! Nia sighed and continued on, her voice gradually growing colder:

-See, as much as I'd love to support your dreams, I can't let you get away with what you've done. You, perhaps indirectly, committed mass murder and that's unforgivable. Now, I'm giving you one last chance to surrender. After this...well, there'll be no coming back from the fight.

-Yes, for you!

Was all that Callef said before rushing at her. His unchecked anger blinded him which was exactly what Nia was hoping for. The battle was over quickly, because with a few slashes and uses of the Force Nia had gotten rid of him. She had hoped to resolve this whole incident without bloodshed, she didn't want to stoop to his level, but he had forced her hand. After shaking her head in disgust at the lifeless corpse Nia made her way over to the injured Bith padawan. She pulled out a hypoinjector full of kolto as she spoke:

-Are you okay? It might be easier if you sit down.

The Bith padawan just gazed at her with speechless awe which prompting Nia to simply sigh and give him the kolto shot anyway. As she slowly removed the injector the Bith spoke:

-That was amazing. I thought we were dead.

Nia smiled, her light blue eyes lighting up gently:

-Don't worry, you're safe now. What you did was horribly reckless, but brave. Colour me impressed.

The Bith lowered his head in embarrassment. He mumbled:

-Thank you. I just did my duty as a Jedi. You are clearly much stronger and braver.

Nia shook her head:

-You're wrong, you know. I'm not sure I could have held out as long as you have, I think Callef would have ticked me off a little too much.

-Flying into battle with raging emotions is not the Jedi way.

-I know, believe me. The Masters on Bakura kept telling me that. Anyway, I'm La'monia Hallcaster, most probably the newest padawan on Tython. So, what's your name?

-Unaw Aharo. Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for saving me again.

-Don't mention it.

There was a pause and just as Nia opened her mouth to say something else, she promptly shut it again as she heard the sound of rushing footsteps. A few moments later, a Jedi, a master if she had to guess rushed up to them. He looked to be in his later years, with a slightly wrinkled face, tanned skin, brown eyes and gray from age hair. He looked slightly out of breath, but very concerned nonetheless. As soon as he had somewhat caught his breath, he focused on the two younger Jedi:

-You two alright? What happened here?

Unaw took the initiative to answer. Pointing at the prone figure of Callef, he explained:

-This Jedi attacked us, Master Orgus. He was sick, confused.

Well, if Nia had been speaking she'd have called him deranged as well as possibly and probably mental, but she guessed Unaw's explanation worked too. Orgus, as the Jedi Master was called, frowned. He looked the man over before sighing and looking back up to the two other young people:

-Thank the Force you're both safe,- there was a pause as Orgus looked down at Callef again before he added,- This man's no Jedi - at least, not one of us.

Nia frowned as Orgus crouched down in front of the corpse. She hesitated for a millisecond before deciding to indulge her curiosity:

-If he wasn't like us, what was he?

-I'd call him Sith, but the Empire doesn't know where Tython is.

Was the answer of the Jedi Master before he stood up holding Callef's lightsaber in his hand. He turned it over, murmuring:

-This lightsaber...there's something familiar about it. Strange.

Nia's bad gut feeling returned full force. She didn't know what it was, but that lightsaber made her feel uneasy. Extremely uneasy. She hadn't noticed the feeling during the battle due to the adrenaline rush, but now she could feel it clearly. She didn't like this. She must have missed whatever else Orgus had said because she only snapped back in when he was speaking to her:

-You held off all these attackers by yourself with only two practice sabers. Impressive.

Nia shrugged, feeling slight embarrassed by the praise. It wasn't like she didn't want to be praised by the Masters - she did, but it was both nice and slightly weird to be praised for something like this. Nia shrugged:

-I only trusted my instincts.

-And they didn't lead you astray. In any case, this lightsaber can help us discover who that man was. It's going to the Jedi Council. The battle is over, but we don't want any more Flesh Raiders coming through here.

Both Nia and Unaw watched as the Jedi Master approached the gaping hole in the cavern and raised up his hand. Suddenly, the ceiling rumbled and giant boulders started falling down, covering the opening. Unaw watched in awe when he suddenly noticed that he ginger-haired girl who had been standing beside him was now kneeling on the floor, her hands clapped over her ears and her eyes screwed up shut. She was mouthing "no" over and over. Her entire body was trembling violently. Master Orgus came back to them, shaking the dust off his hands:

-That should hold them back for now,- he quickly noticed the female padawan's position,-What's wrong, padawan?

Orgus crouched down in front of Nia and placed a hand on her shoulder. Only to have her flinch away, her blue eyes filled with fear. Both male Jedi didn't know what to do. The amount of fear in the girl's eyes was unsettling to say the least. She didn't seem to see the cave anymore. In Nia's mind one of her oldest memories replayed.

Nia sniffled as she hid behind her twin sister and the stack of crated in the cargo hold. She was terrified and Noli was her only shield from the scary things. Her twin's ginger hair brushed against her face, but she didn't mind. The banging only intensified. Their mother and aunt had ordered them to lock the door and not come out no matter the cost, but Nia could feel their pain. She was a coward for not going out, but she was terrified. Noli's small hand squeezed her equally small one and her sister turned around for a moment, a confident smile on her young face, but Nia could see the terror in her deep blue eyes. Noli, her twin, patted her head with her other hand:

-Don't worry, Nia. No matter what, I'll protect you.

The banging only intensified. Nia wanted to cry out-

Suddenly, Nia found herself snapped back to the present. She saw Master Orgus kneeling in front of her, he was channelling the Force through his hands onto her head. He was trying to calm the fear inside her. Nia glanced around to see the entrance hole blocked by piles of boulders, Unaw was watching them worriedly and the smaller rocks around them were floating because of the raw Force energy she was exuding. Nia reined in her fluctuating power, drew in a deep breath and breathed out. Everything was under control. She was fine. That was in the past. She was no longer weak or helpless. She no longer cowered. She was going to be a Jedi, fear had no hold over her. Nia opened her closed eyes again and sighed:

-I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm fine now.

Orgus looked her face over and her Force presence, but when he was certain that that suffocating fear no longer had any hold over her he drew back and stood up. Nia quickly followed him up. She hastily apologised to the injured Unaw for making him worry too, especially in his condition. Unaw assured her that it was fine, making the young woman smile again. Orgus cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him:

-Padawan, what was that?

Nia looked uncomfortable, but, averting her eyes, she hesitantly answered:

-It was a momentary relapse. Don't worry, it won't happen again. I'm just not a fan of loud crashing noises. Wreaks havoc with my implants too.

Master Orgus looked unconvinced. Seeing how uncomfortable Nia looked Unaw decided to shift the Master attention away from her and onto himself:

-I'm injured, Master's Orgus. Are the training grounds safe for travel?

The Jedi Master finally looked away from the girl and looked at the Bith. He shook his head:

-Not yet. I'll get you to a medcenter,- he turned to Nia who was silently daring him to say anything about her relapse with her eyes,- You seem alright to travel alone. Report to the Jedi Council.

Nia was about to nod when her brain reminded her she had no idea where the Jedi Temple was. She needed to download a map of Tython to her chrono as soon as possible. Her sense of direction wasn't the greatest and as previously stated Tython's landscape was all kinds of weird. Nia looked to the Jedi Master for help:

-Uh, I only just arrived on Tython. Where am I going?

-Follow the path leading out of the valley. You'll find the Jedi Temple through the mountain pass. See you there.

Nia nodded in understanding. Well, this was going to be intresting. Nia wondered if she could find the Temple before dark, because contrary to what the Master said something told her it wouldn't be that easy.

==GL: BOJ==

-Alright. It's official. I'm lost.

Nia sighed as she trudged through a bush. There were a lot of paths on Tython and it was very hard to tell which way one would have to go. Nia had been walking through the forest for at least an hour and a half and while she thankfully had only encountered a few Flesh Raiders the day was definitely starting to take it's toll on her. Still, her stamina level was pretty high so she didn't feel exhausted yet. Ducking under a fallen log, Nia mumbled:

-Oh for Force's sake, why couldn't they put signposts?!

-I keep asking that too. It's kinda ridiculous.

Nia whipped around, half-ready to draw her blade when she found herself staring at another young woman who looked a few years older than her. She had short wavy deep brown hair that was pulled back by a hairband and warm blue eyes, but what really caught Nia's attention was the small dangling triangular object she had dangling over her forehead. She remembered things like that from her time as a slave on Alderaan - it was the mark of nobility. The Jedi herself wasn't very tall, she was actually on the short side, she was wearing silver-coloured Jedi robes and a single, elegant lightsaber hung at her hip. She gave Nia a small wave:

-Hey! Are you lost?

-Seem so. It's my first day on Tython so I'm confused.

-Ohh, don't worry - we've all been there. I was the same when I first came to Tython too. Come to think of it, the Flesh Raiders were having a field day back then as well.

Nia looked surprised:

-Do they do that often?

The other Jedi shrugged:

-Every once in a while though today was crazy. Now, where did my own padawan run off to? Let me go find her and we'll walk with you back to the temple, ok? We're headed that way anyhow.

She grinned before lifting a hand to her mouth and yelling:

-Nadia, where are you?

A soft thump sounded and a young girl landed beside the Jedi, seemingly jumping out of the trees. The woman facepalmed:

-Really?

The girl, a young sarkhai with short white hair, light blue eyes and blue facial tattoos per the customs of her race, gave her a small nervous smile:

-Sorry, Master. I, um, got a little too excited. I'm sorry.

The woman chuckled and shook her head:

-Nadia, please do me a favour and stop apologising. It's fine. Just warn me next time. I'm not just your Master, I'm your friend so could you also call me by my name when we're not in front of the Council?

Nadia cast her an uncertain look:

-But, Ryn, you are a member of the council.

-So? Who cares?

Nia looked between the two before bursting out:

-Wait, you're a council member?

The woman nodded, smiling without a care in the world:

-Yep. I'm Ry'nomi Organa, but just call me Ryn. Oh and if you don't want to get on my bad side, don't ever call me Master Organa. Brrr.

Nia looked to Nadia who just smiled and shrugged:

-She's weird like that.

-Hey, watch who you're calling weird, padawan!

-Well, you are weird, Ryn!

Nia couldn't help herself - she burst out laughing at the exchange between the two. The two other women exchanged bewildered looks before they laughed themselves. Ryn was the first to recover from their bought of laughter:

-Okay, let's get going or I'll be late for that super "interesting" council meeting.

Nia shook her head at Ryn as she followed her along with Nadia:

-You don't sound that enthusiastic.

Ryn shrugged:

-It's not like they're that bad, it just the Council is more talk and I'm more of an action person. I mean I'm all for diplomacy and stuff, but debating the same issue over and over is pointless when we're all avoiding the obvious solution.

-So, you're kinda like me?

-Oh thank the stars, there are padawans that think with their heads!

Nadia shook her head:

-Ryn, the Code, remember?

Ryn rolled her eyes:

-Nadia, dear, remember what my first assignment ever on Tython was? Yes, it was collect the holocrons of the founding masters. I listened to them. I follow their principles and so I do follow the code, although I might bend the meaning a little. Ah, we're here.

Nia looked up to see a beautiful building. It was definitely a Jedi Temple, and one of the most beautiful ones at that. Ryn smiled at her padawan and Nia:

-Welcome, to the Jedi Temple on Tython, my friends!


End file.
